(Note: I am assuming this is true in the US. This is may not be true in other countries)

Job seeking is inherently a confidential activity for many people, as the interviewee want to make sure that their current job is safe before leaving for a new role. To sue a company because they didn't get the role is to put their current role at risk.

In addition, the company has a lot more power and resources than the interviewee. They can drag the process out to the point where the interviewee withdraws, runs out of money or settle. Given that, the interviewee has to have significant proof as well as resources and privilege to able to successfully sue the company.

All things considering, I don't think the idea of not providing feedback because of legal liabilities is sound.

Labor laws get violated all the time in interviews because most companies don't provide pre-interview warnings and most interviewers aren't familiar with the law. Outside of a few big companies that actually have been sued over this, I think most companies just don't care.

With feedback, liability just sounds like a WAY more prudent reason than "we're lazy" and "we're actually just afraid of our own employees humiliating us".

Nobody has once ever said to me "we're not hiring you because of [ethnicity]" and I'm certain they never would, but several times I have received feedback which proved incompetence.

In general I think being unwilling to give feedback is a sign that the company is not confident in the abilities of its employees and vice versa.

It's also tough when it's reframed in terms of 'what are your expectations'.

I was wondering what the best way to field those questions is.